I suppose a volcano is probably not something that requires accessibility but, considering last weeks events, to be detailed later in this post, I figured a catchy title would have to do.
First things first, the 4th Annual eAccessibility Forum in Paris last Monday was great! There were a ton of great speakers from a variety of countries and government agencies representing Europe. I picked up a ton of new data points relevant to Europe and plan to start using them as soon as I can download all the pictures from my camera – forgot the cable at home in Toronto.
Our booth was quite busy, and I think the entire Actuate/Xenos team enjoyed all the conversations and connections we made. Everyone was impressed and surprised, the number one comment we received was that “I didn’t think this could be done”. As the premier accessibility event in France, we will definitely attend next year and I’m hopeful we can expand our presence beyond the booth and traditional presentations.
Along with the show, we pre-announced Xenos Axess – our PDF Accessibility solution! We’ve completed a number of accessibility changes to the website, included a piece of accessible collateral, and a flash presentation. Before you bring it up, let me just say I was not too pleased with the vendor who created the flash – and specifically the lack of accessibility within it. We’ll be taking it and updating over the next little while, so I’m looking forward to a second version that will address more of these issues.
You can find more information about Xenos Axess on our website here.
After Paris, we headed off to London for some time with our team there and, local gatherings. Meeting the local association for the blind, who I shouldn’t mention yet, went very well. They were excited to see what we have done, and the approach we’ve taken with other global organizations for the blind and visually impaired. I’m confident we will engage on similar levels to the other org’s, and you should be seeing some of that effort start to filter down to the blog and our website by June.
Spent some time with our UK folks, specifically the sales team. It was my first trip to our UK office and let me just say I was impressed! The team is very professional, and were excited to learn more about the solution. Everyone truly believes this is not only important for the company and our bottom line, but for the community we are helping.
Last but certainly not least, the volcano! I was supposed to fly to Croatia on Thurs evening to visit my father for the weekend. Well if you didn’t already hear, air travel was disrupted like never before due to the Icelandic volcano. Information was scarce the first day, so I decided to wait till Fri and make the decision to stay or go via trains to the continent.
Friday morning I woke up at 4AM just to check the news and see if the 7AM deadline for flights had moved, and sure enough it did. If I recall correctly, 7AM turned into 7PM very quickly. I checked what I could online and on the TV, and decided to take my chances with trains in hopes of making it there. By this point, I was determined to beat the volcano.
Took the train from Gatwick to St. Pancras, where the Eurostar train heads to Paris. By that time the Eurostar was booked solid till at least Monday. Then I had a few trains to Dover, a long walk and a few hour ferry ride to Calais, France. By this point we felt like refugees (me and the other people trying to escape the island). The line-ups were so long and everyone was running around rampant.
After a little turmoil, made it as far as Lille, France. At that point there simply were not any options to go anywhere on Friday. I’ll take a moment to stop here to simply say what an absolutely stunningly beautiful city this is. I ended up travelling from Gatwick with a very nice German couple, and we spent the evening touring this lovely place. I’ll post some pictures when I can.
After a fun evening with my German friends, we headed out early to catch our respective trains. We shared a train to Strasbourg after which we went our separate ways. Here’s the rest of the day’s trains; Strasbourg to Stuttgart, then on to Munich, a short ride to Salsburg and last but least to Villach, Austria where my father picked me up and drove the 3 hours to his home in Croatia. We arrived around 8AM which would peg my total travel time to Croatia at 52 hours.
52 hours! As I re-read this post it almost sounds too easy. I can hardly count the number of buses, trains, long walks and foodless days within this recent journey. The other thing I have to call out is the amount of people stuck without credit cards. How can one travel anywhere in this day and age without at least a credit card? I saw so many families with small children with nowhere to go, little or no cash and no plastic cards. I helped who I could but it just amazes me that people would go to a foreign country without at least some sense of backup.
As I post this message it seems my Monday flight to Toronto has already been cancelled. Considering the cost of staying in London, I’m sure the company won’t mind if I work out of my father’s place till things clear up. (Insert accessible smiley face here)
I’ll likely be stuck here in Croatia for at least 4 days, if not an entire week. Based on the backlog of flights, I may just move to next Monday to be on the safe, and inexpensive side of things.
My next post will talk will cover accessibility in Europe, and specifically some of the things I’ve seen, and taken pictures of, that are worth mentioning.
